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International Ecologists to visit Rutgers–Camden for 14th Soil Ecology Conference

CAMDEN —New Jersey’s various landscapes and unique Pine Barrens offer a diverse ecosystem that will provide the perfect setting for a meeting of the world’s foremost soil ecologists this June.

Rutgers–Camden is hosting the 14th biennial conference of the Soil Ecology Society from June 11 to 14. Approximately 150 scholars and students will share research on topics like biodiversity in soil, agriculture and forestry, urban soils, biogeochemistry, and teaching soil ecology.

The conference at Rutgers–Camden will also host a meeting of the editorial board of the internationally renowned journal Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

The Soil Ecology Society is an international organization of researchers, students, environmental professionals, and others interested in the advancement and promotion of soil biology and ecology.

The conference addresses contemporary issues in the field of soil ecology and provides a forum for to share original research and identify priorities for future research and outreach.

Throughout the week, ecologists and students will give oral and poster presentations in the Rutgers–Camden Campus Center. Three Rutgers–Camden students will present research at the conference.

Guests also include scholars from Canada, Ireland, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom and, for the first time at a conference of the Soil Ecology Society, a delegation of 15 scientists and students from China.

Feng Hu, a professor of soil ecology at Nanjing Agricultural University in China, will deliver the keynote address.

On Wednesday, June 12, the group will separate to take field trips to the Franklin Parker Preserve within the million-acre Pinelands National Reserve, Liberty State Park in northern New Jersey, and Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County, Pa.

These habitats provide a wealth of soils related questions regarding management, recreation, and development issues, says John Dighton, a professor of biology at Rutgers–Camden and president of the Soil Ecology Society.

“Each of these locations has characteristics that fit in with the themes of this year’s conference, so we thought of Camden as a good place to have this meeting. It also gives us a chance to showcase Rutgers–Camden and the surrounding area,” says Dighton, who also is director of the Rutgers Pinelands Field Station.

The Franklin Parker Preserve contains about 5,000 acres of wetlands habitat and 4,400 acres of contiguous upland pine oak forest in the heart of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Liberty State Park is a designated brown field and parts of the park have been left to naturally regenerate. Ridley Creek State Park features a varied landscape of forests and creek-side vegetation.

A pair of Rutgers University–Camden students has found a new family of functional materials for the production of clean hydrogen fuel through photocatalysis, a process that uses sunlight or ultraviolet light to drive chemical reactions.

Marcus Biddle, a Rutgers University–Camden Civic Scholar, will be honored for his tireless volunteering efforts at The Neighborhood Center’s 101st annual meeting and luncheon, to be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 3, at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Cherry Hill.